Support and Advocacy For Edgewater Park in Cleveland, Ohio

Edgewater Park becomes part of the Metroparks Lakefront Reservation

September 21, 2013

It is a new day for Edgewater Park. The Cleveland Metroparks officially took over management of the park on June 6th. Adding to the exciting momentum for the park is the opening of the W 76th street tunnel today, July 2.

The Metroparks has adopted the Urban Beach Ambassador program, which was created in partnership with Friends of Edgewater, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Euclid Adopt a Beach, Drink Local Drink Tap, and Cleveland Lakefront State Parks. Sixteen people have been trained as Urban Beach Ambassadors so far and will provide eyes on the park and a welcoming presence for visitors. Additional trainings will take place if there are at least ten interested people. Sign up here: http://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/Main/Urban-Beach-Ambassadors.aspx

The Friends of Edgewater State Park board has mixed feelings about this change. We will miss our friends at the state parks, particularly Naturalist Carol Ward, who has been the liaison to our group for many years. We do feel that the Metroparks will be an excellent manager of the park and we have the highest hopes and excitement about new possibilities for Edgewater. The Friends of Edgewater State Park will continue to actively promote and support the park under the name Friends of Edgewater. Friends of Edgewater board members were recently invited to participate in meetings with Metroparks staff facilitated by Land Studio.

Perkins Beach Cleanup to be held this Saturday
With help from a beach cleaner machine provided by the Northeast Ohio Sewer District, Metroparks staff have been spending a lot of time cleaning Edgewater Beach. However, they can’t easily get the beach cleaner over to the west end of the beach, known as Perkins Beach. With this in mind our monthly cleanup in partnership with Drink Local Drink Tap will focus on the Perkins area this month, on Saturday, July 6th from 10am-12pm. Volunteers will meet at the west parking lot (nearest to Edgewater Drive and Cliff Drive).

Donation Box Installed at Edgewater Pier
Last fall, the Friends of Edgewater cleaned, painted, and installed a donation box provided by the Friends for the Preservation of State Parks adjacent to the Edgewater fishing pier. The box is now labeled and a number of small donations have been collected at the box. All donations will be used to support Edgewater Park.